right now at 4:00 a.m., snow all across the d.c. region. this is the view from our camera at reagan national. and take it easy on the roads. checking the cameras in virginia, you'll find many main highways treated with salt, but streets could still be slick around your neighborhood. another shot of conditions in maryland now. you'll want to give yourself plenty of extra time this early hour. good morning, everyone, i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this thursday, january 24, 2013. we got word that federal offices will be open.

>> we saw flames starting to fall in the d.c. metro region before 11:00 last night. it was heavy at times. this of the view from arlington overnight. some of our crews arriving in the late hours reported planes completely covered in snow. it was snowing when we came in, starting to taper off now. >> let's check in with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. tom? >> it's a dry snow, coming down since before 11:00 last night. a lot of it now tapering off. you see a little of the moon showing through. "atlanti there's lingering snow in the area. white areas, it's coming down harder in far southern parts of the eastern shore. now the darker gray areas, very light snow in montgomery and howard, prince george's, arlington and fairfax. across northern virginia, there's a couple of spots where it will be coming down harder, prince william, northern fauquier, the panhandle of west virginia. this is all rapidly moving to the east. it did leave up to an inch of snow in some locations. generally around the metro area

and points north and west. there was only about a half inch to less than that, maybe a quarter inch. some places here, pendleton county, west virginia, had a couple of inches. a winter weather advisory in effect until 9:00. it's probably going to be expiring here shortly as the snow's going to taper off and end over the next couple of hours. it's cold. down into the teens to just near 20 degrees now from prince george's county into arlington, fairfax, montgomery, and the district. we'll hold steady near 20 with maybe a few lingering light flakes, flurries through 6:00 a.m. then sunny after that, turning windy. gusts of wind to 30 miles per hour. that will be swirling the snow around. highs only reaching the upper 20s by mid-afternoon. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. now with the roads, danella has the latest. what's going on? it is going to be a tricky commute this morning. here's what you're dealing with. first let's talk about early morning accidents. i-95 northbound at dumfries road, you see this car spun out. crews on the scene of this first

i-95 virginia northbound accident. the second is at prince william parkway. it's difficult to see on camera, but it is blocking the left lane, as well. as you're driving i-95, you know, heading out of stafford, heading toward the beltway in both directions, some lane are open, some are still snow covered. you're going to have to keep your speeds low. let me talk about local roads now. heading to montgomery county, you see connecticut avenue at bel pre. some things you'll notice, tire marks going straight, suddenly they'll swerve off. you have to give yourself extra time. some of the roads working on being plowed now. back to you. >> thank you. 4:03. right now plows are out around the region trying to keep your commute a safe one. here's a live look at the roads. nearly 200,000 trucks have been pretreating d.c. streets since 10:00 last night. ddot says temperatures are well below freezing. they expect snow to stick to streets through the rush hour. now there is a dusting in the district, but if you live in the county south or east of

here, you probably see more. megan mcgrath checking things in prince george's county for us this morning. she is in suitland. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, aaron. what you encounter out there really is going to depend on where you are, whether you're on a major road or side street and whether or not the street has been treated. we've seen a variety of conditions this morning from snow-covered streets where you can't even see the lines on the road, to wet pavement. it really depends. where we are in suitland is a good example of this. this is quarter avenue, a residential street. look at the condition that we're seeing here -- completely snow covered all the way down. obviously no plows have come through here. does not appear that any salt or brine has been placed on the snow surface. when the snow fell overnight, it stuck to the ground. take a look here. this is pennsylvania avenue. of course, a major thoroughfare here. you can see that the plows have come through. we've seen a number of them this morning. they're putting the salt down.

and we basically have wet pavement at this point. so keep in mind you may encounter a variety of conditions while you make your way into work this morning. reporting live, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you. >> all right. thank you. the bitter cold could impact your commute on metro. yesterday a rail cracked on the green line causing major delays. metro says cracked rails are not uncommon with temperatures as low as they are, especially above ground on those portions of the tracks. unfortunately, they say, there is no way to avoid that. and stay with news4 and nbcwashington.com for the latest on winter weather. we'll bring you school closings and delays as soon as they come in. we'd also like to see what the snow is like where you are. send pictures to isee@nbcwashington.com. today will be a historic day for the military and women's rights advocates. defense secretary benjamin netanyahu will announce the -- defense secretary leon panetta will announce the overturn of

the 1994 rule that banned women from being part of combat units. it will open more than 200,000 combat positions to women. some female soldier say they've waited their entire careers for this moment. >> i think i've been walking about three feet in the air since i heard the news. this is an exciting first step to further include women in the military service and for them to be in positions to further serve their country. >> despite the combat ban, women in the military have still given their lives for their country. more than 150 women have been killed in iraq and afghanistan. also today, john kerry will tell some of his senate colleagues why he should be our next secretary of state. the senate foreign relations committee will hold kerry's confirmation hearing today. he is the committee's chairman, so new jersey senator robert menendez will preside over the hearing. president obama nominated kerry last month to succeed hillary clinton at the state department. the president says kerry's earned the respect and confidence of leaders around the world. a developing story now out

of north korea. the south korean government says north korea may be preparing a nuclear test. the associated press reports that north korea is warninging it's ready to conduct a test as well as carry out more long-range missile launches, threatening to wage a "full-fledged confrontation again the u.s." for what it calls continued hostility. the threats come days after the u.n. condemned the country's rocket launch last month. yesterday, schools placed thes ha uva's college at wise on lockdown after reports of a gunman. the students who reported seeing him later confessed it was a hoax. the battle over the debt limit may not play out until spring. the senate could vote as early as tomorrow on a bill that will let the government continuing borrowing money through mid-may. the house passed the legislation yesterday. it allows the government to borrow money without congress approval. the treasury has warned the

country could default on some loan as early as next month if the debt ceiling isn't lifted. the white house supports the measure. opponents say it just prolong uncertainty about the economy's health. and the senate may decide today on a deal to curb the number of filibusters. aides say lawmakers are kploes to a compromise to limit the delays which minority partying use to kill legislation. democrats complain that republicans overuse filibusters to block their legislation. republicans say the tactic is the only leverage they have to get roll call votes on amendments that would otherwise be shots down by democrats. 4:08 the time. 23 degrees. coming up on "news4 today," how vice president joe biden is using the web site google today to make a push for tighter gun control. the legal trouble mounting for lance armstrong since he confessed to using performance enhancing drugs. we're tracking winter weather this morning. we'll have snow across the region. tom kierein is back with your weather and traffic.

somebody forgot to shut off the water. check out this fountain in bryant park in new york city. you see it is slowly turning into a statue with water quickly freezing. temperature in the city have hit the single digits at night. and with the wind picking up, windchills tonight are expected to be below zero in most areas. >> an awfully bitter, cold night in so many places in the east coast last night. 11 minutes after the hour here. we're looking at -- it's warmer than it was this time yesterday. in some places at least. but that didn't make a huge difference. looking over the capital, there is still a little snow falling for some folks. and i know in my case the road in my neighborhood wasn't so great. >> mine either. tom kierein here with the forecast. tom, good morning. >> yeah. any untreated surface is snow covered this morning. that includes probably your sidewalk and your front steps, too. it's sweepable snow. it's very dry snow. and you see a lot of it is passing south of us. the highest snow amount reports

are in far southern maryland, st. mary's county, town creek. there was one report of 2.3 inches of snow. elsewhere, most locations just some lingering, very light snow. the areas in gray on storm team 4 radar across northern virginia, maryland, and the district, heading off to the east/southeast. and right now, temperatures certainly very cold. only in the teens in montgomery and prince george's counties. arlington, fairfax, upper teens to near 20 in parts of north central virginia. hour by hour through the day today, any lingering flurries should be mostly done by 6:00 a.m. then sun out. gusty winds, highs reaching upper 20s and a clear, cold night tonight. we'll be down to near 20 by midnight. and it will be a lighter wind. and i'm back in ten minutes with your seven-day outlook. danella with a look at the road condition and traffic. good morning. good morning, a live look, i-95 northbound at dumfries road. you see there's a disabled truck, and police are on the scene, as well, as well as snow covered. as you're traveling i-95 in virginia, really just around the

region some lanes are open and some are still just not plowed or clear enough. you got to keep your speeds low like these cars are doing here. let's head to 395. earlier just had an accident to the right. as you travel 395 northbound at washington boulevard, it was blocking the right lane. it's now clear. just slippery out. here's a live look at i-270 in clarksburg. out of frederick, snow covered. closer to montgomery county, though, you'll see at least a lane open, then closer to rockville maybe two lanes open. back to you. >> all right. thanks. we have a school closing to bring you already. stafford county schools in virginia are closed this morning. employees are on a code two. stafford county closed. 4:13. ahead, one city's creative campaign to get people to lose weight. plus, the overnight snow. check the road conditions for a member of the morning team. uh-oh. and we have cameras scattered across the region now. [ female announcer ] pillsbury crescents on their own are fantastic but add some sauce, pepperoni and cheese and fold up the crescent dough...and presto!

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welcome back. 4:15. you are looking live at union station this morning. snow-covered grass. looks like they've gotten to the roads on mass avenue as you might expect this time of day. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein tracking the early morning headlines. weather and traffic on the 1s ahead. today, joe biden plans to take on gun control legislation. he'll take to the web to answer questions about president obama's recently introduced gun-control measures. this afternoon he'll appear on google-plus hangout to field questions about the administration's efforts to reduce gun control. tomorrow the vice president will head to richmond to meet with virginia state lawmakers about the proposed laws. also today, the group commissioned to investigate the sandy hook massacre meets for the first time. this morning, the sandy hook advisory commission will hear from experts who were involved in the aftermath of the

columbine and virginia tech shootings. they'll be asked to make recommendations on school safety, mental health, and gun violence prevention. the group was created last month by connecticut governor dan malloy. a fire forced a family of nine out of their townhouse in prince george's county. it broke out at a townhouse on empress way in bowie. chopper 4 flew over the scene. the fire burned all three floors. nobody was hurt. investigators think a problem with the chimney or fireplace caused the fire. this morning we know a mother and daughter died in the house fire on manor road in falls church. this is cell phone video showing the fire burning the front of the house. neighbors say they heard an explosion, and two brief screams about 3:30 yesterday morning. the identities of the victims have not been released. we do know both victims were hearing impaired. the mother was a professor at gallaudet university. investigators removed a gas meter as they determine what caused that explosion and fire. 4:17.

today, fairfax county's school board will vote on a plan to build two new elementary school buildings in the coming years to accommodate its growing student population. six existing elementary schools would be renovated, as well. the county would like to build even more schools in the distant future as part of its capital improvement program. this morning parents are worried about sending their children to school. they want some answers after three prince george's county high school students have been shot and killed this school year. over the weekend, 16-year-old marcus antonio jones of shot and killed outside a birthday party in ft. washington. police held a meeting at friendly senior high school in ft. washington where jones went to school. police say two fights broke out at the school on monday. parents say they are concerned. >> weathhen they tell us it's threatened at school, it hurts, it hurts me to my heart. >> jones is the third student from prince george's county public schools killed by gun

violence since the school year started. 17-year-old amber ross was killed in her bedroom late in august. nearly a week later, marquel ross was shot to death on his way to school. police have not made any arrests in the case. lance armstrong is seeing his first lawsuit since admitting to using performance enhancing drugs to win seven tour de france titles. two men are suing armstrong and his book publishers for false advertising. they say they bought armstrong's books because they believed his story about his ride to victory despite a near-fatal bout with cancer. it says armstrong and publishers random house violate the consumer protection laws by selling the books as nonfiction. a video is a frightening reminder to always pay attention to railroad signs. an 18 wheeler blows through a flashing signal. look at that. gets rammed by a train. ripping the back part of the trailer right off. this happened in northern vermont on tuesday. you see it again there. the crash happened dangerously close to a gas station which could have made things even

worse if you can imagine. amazingly, nobody was hurt. the truck driver, though, was ticketed. fire on the water in miami. look at this video. the owner of a boat says he was repairing an engine when he stepped away for a minute. when he returned, his 37-foot boat was on fire. that quickly spread to a nearby 21-foot boat before firefighters doused flame. nobody hurt. the cause of the fire under investigation. it has been a long night for firefighters in cumberland, california. they've been on the scene of a burned out home near the chinatown district to make a fire doesn't flare up again. more than 50 fights firefighters -- 50 firefighters battled the flames. they believe the house was abandoned. they're trying to figure out what started the fire. all right. 4:21 about on this thursday morning. we want to look outside. tom kierein's here to tell us what you'll see out the window this morning. >> pretty good visible. we had low visibility an hour

ago. could barely see the washington monument from this view. now it's improved a lot. now we just have lingering flurry after we've had about four, five hours of some light snow that's left anywhere from a dusting to as much as a half inch around the area. st. mary's county, some locations with one to two inches. an inch in the northern neck of virginia, lower part of the eastern shore. areas you see in the light gray and the white are where we're still getting some light snow. that includes all of northern virginia, the district, and suburbs in maryland. prince george's, montgomery, into southern frederick, howard counties, northern anne arundel. temperatures certainly cold. whatever snow fell is sticking to all untreated surfaces. that includes your sidewalk, front steps, and probably your side street. many streets and even hearing 95 from fredericksburg to dale city has not been treated. it's snow covered.

all of 270 and the beltway has been treated with salt and sand. it's just wet. here's how things are looking for the next couple of days. we'll have sunshine breaking out by later this morning. temperatures should climb to the upper 20s by this afternoon. by late morning, middle of the day, we'll have winds picking up, gusting to around 30 miles per hour. it's a fluffy, dry snow. we'll have that snow blowing and swirling around with some gusty winds. and then the winds diminish tonight under a clear sky. cold start friday, near 15 degrees. looks like it will be cloudy through the day on friday. snow developing right now, does not look like it's going to be until late afternoon. and ending by midnight on friday night. there could be a couple of inches of additional snow late afternoon friday, ending late friday night. then sun back over the weekend. frigid mornings, cold afternoons. finally warming up first part of next week. might actually get some rain next wednesday. that's the way it looks. i'm back with frequent updates throughout the morning. danella with a look at traffic. good morning. well, an update on the accident

i-95 northbound in dale city. you see just off to your right here, right lanes actually, that's where the crash is. a tow truck is on the scene. the earlier disabled passenger truck that we saw is loaded, ready to be towed out of the roadway. see a box truck there, as well. i-95 in both directions still seeing spots that are snow covered. you'll will have to give yourself extra time. if you're leaving the house, please be safe. on 50, this is what i was talking about. some lanes are open. some lanes you're still seeing snow. at least two lanes open on 50. this is at davidsville road. give yourself plenty of time. >> thank you. the actor whose voice brought charlie brown to life has been arrested for stalking. 56-year-old pet robins pled not guilty in a san diego court after police say he repeatedly threatened his former girlfriend as well as a plastic surgeon who performed breast enhancement surgery on her.

reports say robins bought a gun, although he's not received it yet. robins did the voice of charlie brown in specials including "a charlie brown christmas" and "it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown." a flower shop in virginia is getting attention for a valentine's day marketing campaign. a window display at the shop in coburn, virginia, near the kentucky border, shows an inflatable doll in a party dress lying in bed surrounded by empty wine and pill bottles. the owners say the message is supposed to be, you don't send me flowers anymore. some say people in the town saying it promotes self abuse and suicide. >> it comes against our values. >> we never meant to offend a single person. if people walk by your windows and continue walking by, you've done nothing to inspire them to think or have a thought or come to an emotional catharsis of any kind. >> the owners say they've made a couple of changes in response to people's reaction, including removing some of the bottles.

by the way, they say they used an inflatable doll pause it was cheaper than using a mannequin. in "news 4 your health" this morning, new research shows people who smoke have a greater risk of dying more than ten years earlier than people who don't smoke. the american cancer society also found women smokers have caught up with men when it comes to the risk of dying from both lung cancer and chronic lung disease. similar studies done in the 1960s and '70s didn't indicate such a huge impact on women. researchers say women are starting to smoke younger and smoke more than women in the past. more people are choosing cremation than ever before. the funeral directors association reports 2.5 million people died each year in 2011. 42% were cremated. that's double the rate of just 15 years ago. the main reason cremation is up is because it is cheaper than having a burial. michigan is trying to shed its label of the fifth heaviest state in the country by offering an online personal trainer. all residents have to do is sign

up to a pledge that they will work to lose 10% of their body weight. they then get a starter kit that includes a food and exercise log and guide to healthy grocery shopping. they also receive motivational tips and healthy recipes in their e-mail. the state's community health director says he actually has committed to losing 20 pounds himself and says he thinks online communities will keep people motivated. >> what we found out is people can't just say "i'm going to lose weight," they have to get reminders. they can get updates on cell phones, tips. they can feed in information. >> more than 170 employers and organizations have also signed up for the program. >> all right. it takes some encouragement. >> it's a health thing. >> yes. >> everybody get on board. you can make things happen. >> all right. 4:26 now. 22 degrees. first, man tie te'o. now you on some redskins players were duped by a woman with a fake online identity. the major spending plan in the works to overhaul metro's

transit system. the big story, the snow. a live look at snow-covered roads in prince george's county.

a major heads up. this is a view of billingsley road in charles county. very dark, little lighting there. very slick with snow and ice. and another view, this time in montgomery county. you see yards and neighborhood streets covered. we're hearing a lot of people saying that they're seeing snow on the side streets. it's slick out there. you and i both had slippery spots on our commute in. good morning, i'm eun yang. >> good morning, i'm aaron gilchrest. welcome back to "news4 today" on this thursday, january 24. the dusting of snow not keeping the federal government from opening its offices this morning. all federal offices are open. employee do have the option of